"Alan Dershowitz’s detailed and penetrating analysis of the issues that fuel the continuing war in Israel should be read by everyone interested in reaching a fair conclusion as to how that tragic conflict should be ended. Every charge leveled by Israel’s opponents is dealt with lucidly and convincingly by one of the nation’s brightest minds and most effective advocates."—Mario M. Cuomo

"The Jewish nation of Israel stands accused in the dock of international justice. The charges include being a criminal state, the prime violator of human rights, the mirror-image of Nazism, and the most intransigent barrier to peace in the Middle East. Throughout the world–from the chambers of the United Nations, to the campuses of universities–Israel is singled out for condemnation, divestment, boycott, and demonization. Its leaders are threatened with prosecution as war criminals. Its supporters are charged with dual loyalty and parochialism.

"The time has come for a proactive defense of Israel to be offered in the court of public opinion. In this book, I offer such a defense–not of every Israeli policy or action, but of its basic right to exist, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and to defend its borders from hostile enemies. I also try to present a realistic picture of Israel, warts and all, as a flourishing multiethnic democracy, similar in many ways to the United States, that affords all of its citizens–Jews, Muslims, and Christians–far better lives and opportunities than those afforded by any Arab or Muslim nation. Most important, I argue that those who single out Israel for unique criticism not directed against countries with far worse human rights records are themselves guilty of international bigotry. . . . But when the Jewish nation is the only one criticized for faults that are far worse among other nations, such criticism crosses the line from fair to foul, from acceptable to anti-Semitic."–from The Case for Israel

Even as Israel boldly offers statehood to Palestinians in exchange for an enduring peace, many academics and activists–primarily but not exclusively from the hard left–have gone on the attack against Israel, deriding it as an imperialist power bent on oppressing the Palestinians. On prominent campuses across the United States and throughout the world, petitions circulate asking universities to divest holdings in Israel and to boycott Israeli Jews without regard to their individual views. Virulent opponents of Israel have accused that democracy of unspeakable human rights abuses, while many who believe otherwise remain silent. Now, in this impassioned and closely argued book, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz sets the record straight and explains why Israel, while not perfect, is in fact the sole outpost of liberty and democracy in the Middle East–a country that has earned the right to exist within secure boundaries and defend itself.

Drawing on scrupulous, unbiased research and his peerless skills as an advocate, Dershowitz conclusively refutes thirty-two separate slurs, slanders, and misrepresentations that have been hurled at Israel in recent years, including:

-- Israel is a colonial, imperialist state-- The Jews have always rejected the two-state solution-- The Jews have exploited the Holocaust-- Israel’s victimization of the Palestinians has been the primary cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict-- Israel created the Arab refugee problem-- Israel tortures Palestinians-- Israel’s targeted assassinations of terrorist leaders are unlawful-- Israel is the "prime" human rights violator in the world-- Universities should divest from Israel and boycott Israeli scholars

In demolishing these charges, Dershowitz documents how Israel was founded with the blessing of the United Nations–and how it was Arabs, not Israelis, who initiated the cycle of violence that still persists today. He proves that the division of Palestine between Israel and the Palestinians has long been accepted by Israel and rejected by most Arabs. He demonstrates why Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza are not motivated by territorial ambitions, but by the very real sense that Israel is under attack. And he shows how critics of Israel gloss over the terrorism, human rights abuses, and antidemocratic ideologies of other regimes in the region, substituting bigotry and veiled anti-Semitism for objective analysis. Well reasoned, hard-hitting, and provocative, The Case for Israel is essential reading for anyone who cares about Israel and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.